News360 For iPad App Isn't For Everyone, But...

Still looking for an iPad news app to call your favorite? Perhaps it’s time to check out the seven month-old News360 for iPad app, which recently received an impressive update.

Created by News360, the free app aggregates thousands of different news sources from around the web to bring you news stories – big and small – that you may find interesting across multiple categories.

When it first launched in February, News360 for iPad offered a hodgepodge of content, which wasn’t easy to customize. However, the app’s subsequent updates have changed this entirely. Now, stories are arranged into one or two main categories, with one focused entirely content that most interests you.

Under News are stories making the most noise today across the world. Categories here range from the typical (Top Stories, Tech) to the more unique (Crime, Fashion).

Unlike other news apps, however, News360 doesn’t just give you one story on a topic. Rather, it lists the same topic as covered by a number of different sources.

For example, today’s big tech story is the decision by Netflix to split into two separate companies. On this, News360 offers one main article (from The Wall Street Journal), as well as links to 354 more articles on the same topic.

In addition, News360 for iPad offers a timeline so you know when each story was originally published. In doing so, readers not only get to access like-articles told from different perspectives, but also know which articles are newer than the others.

To further customize your news-reading experience, News360 for iPad includes a My Interests section. Here, you decide the type of articles you’re most interested in seeing and the app groups those in a different section.

To make this easier, the app will first search through topics associated with your Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and/or Google Reader accounts. Then, you can further customize this area by adding additional topics to your list.

News360 for iPad - One Topic, So Many Sources

Finally, the Version 2.1.2 update includes the ability to save articles for future reading either through the iPad app or http://news360.com website. Meaning, your favorite stories remain in a cloud for future use. Also, support for this feature will soon be added to the News360 app for the iPhone/iPod touch.

Other features include:

Get your personal news on any mobile device you use, or on the web at news360.com

Get local news by using your iPad’s GPS or WiFi connection to find your location

Share stories you like with friends on Facebook,

Connect to TripIt to keep up with fresh local news from your upcoming destinations

Use the “360 view” to find unexpected, fascinating stories

News360 for iPad is a terrific app, but keep in mind, it might not be for everyone. For one, we had a hard time figuring out the app’s Personalize Your News service, which is built into the My Interests feature. While we’re happy to say it works, we found the tool awkward at best. Hopefully, a future update will make this process a lot easier.

Second, News360 for iPad offers content from up to 5,000 different sources, which is fantastic for the newshound in many of us. Unfortunately, this fact could turn off more casual news readers, who simply want a story presented once.

Overall, though, News360 for iPad is a terrific alternative to other news apps currently on the market. As such, it comes highly recommended.